A Veteran Almost Forgotten but not the Monument to the War he Fought

By Scott Wheeler

The "Soldier's Monument" has stood in what more recently has become known as Veterans' Park, since 1866, as a tribute to the men of Derby who fought in the Civil War. A world renowned Civil War believes it is the oldest community erected monument to that war in the nation. Note the small maples that appear in this old photo. The ones that still stand are towering trees, some of them nearing the end of their lifespan. Photo courtesy of Brian Smith.

My great great grandfather Sullivan Church marched off to the battlegrounds of the Civil War from his home in Salem (which was incorporated into the town of Derby in 1880) as a 15 year old in 1862. He served in Company E of the Ninth Vermont Regiment. A farm boy with youthful roots in the neighboring town of Coventry, the years that he spent at war forever shaped his life, a life that was cut terribly short because of the horrors and deprivations he witnessed and experienced.
Records from the United States War Department say that Sullivan was stationed in a number of locations in the South. Among them were: Virginia; Newport Barracks, North Carolina; Canadys Mills, North Carolina; and Gales Creek, North Carolina. No mention is made about whether he was captured at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, in September 1862, by General Stonewall Jackson's Confederate troops. But it would seem likely he was, since the entire 920 man Ninth Vermont regiment was supposed to have been captured there.
"For some three years after his return from the war in 1865 he was unable to do but little labor of any kind," Sullivan's wife, Mary, wrote in a letter to the war department in an attempt to obtain a pension following the death of her husband. She wrote that while in the Army and in the following years, Sullivan suffered from the effects of malaria and sunstroke. According to Mary's letter, her husband was plagued by recurring ailments including chills, fever, and diarrhea. But his mental disabilities, which she said were brought on by his service, appeared even more debilitating. She said he would become quite deranged at times. She wrote that Sullivan was almost always under medical care.
Life for Sullivan and the family took a turn for the worse in 1876. "In the summer and early in the fall of 1876 he became very insane from the effects of his Army trouble," Mary wrote. He was sent to the asylum in September of that year and remained there for seven months. She wrote that when he came home he had "somewhat recovered," but "in a few weeks he began to be out again by spells, more in hot weather." His condition slowly began to deteriorate. "He had to wear leaves in his hat to keep the sun from striking his head," she wrote. "He would get up in the morning and go in the woods bareheaded and barefooted but travel all day." His feet would become bloodied all the while he wore his boots over his back." "He would also have spells that he would not speak nor eat nor dress himself," she wrote. By 1880, Mary could no longer care for Sullivan. He was sent back to the asylum where he died on September 2, 1880. His cause of death on the application is listed as "diseases of brain".
It is with my ancestor's involvement in the Civil War, an involvement that most likely led to his early grave, that I have thought about as new life has been brought to the tiny plot of land located on the north end of the Village of Derby Center. That is where the monument to that terrible war, a war that ripped apart the nation, stands today.
In talking with world renowned Civil War historian, Ed Bearss during one of his trips to this region, Mr. Bearss told me that this monument is the oldest community monument to the memory of the war and the people who fought it in the nation. It was erected in 1866, soon after the end of the war.
In their book, "History of Derby, Vermont," the late Mildred and Cecile Hay did a fine job at outlining the history of the monument, which apparently in the history of the community is known as the "Derby Soldier's Monument". The book includes a newspaper article from the November 8, 1866 issue of the "Stanstead Journal," a weekly newspaper still published in Stanstead, Quebec. The article outlines the events of October 31, 1866 the day in which a large number of people converged on the newly constructed monument for a dedication ceremony, including men who fought in the war. Was Sullivan at this ceremony? I'll most likely never know. The following is that article:
"The services of the occasion were attended by a very large concourse of people from Derby and the neighboring towns including Stanstead. The Stanstead Band was in attendance and discoursed sweet sounds. An introductory prayer was made by Rev. Mr. Woodward of Irasburg, Vermont Gen. P.T. Washburn, late Adjutant General of Vermont, delivered the oration. It was a very eloquent tribute to the Vermont troops who took part in the war for the Union.
Following Gen. Washburn's speech, Hon. B.H. Steele of Derby spoke of local matters concerning the war. The speech described as brief and of real interest to both Vermonters and Canadian friends, was too long to quote in full, but excerpts have been chosen. After eloquently sketching the proud history of Derby and praising the wonderful accomplishments of its seventy years, Gen. Washburn said, but, my fellow townsmen, it is not the ever increasing grand list of Derby - it is not our schools which have trained so many to usefulness and success - it is not the public nor the private enterprise of the people - no, nor even the sturdy manliness of the fathers of the town, that we today renew the keenest pleasure or the deepest pride. It is the war record of the town which makes the fairest, the fondest and the most touching chapter of her history. Represented by her sons in almost every department of toil and danger upon a theatre of war broader than the world ever saw before, she was always represented by heroism and fidelity. The alacrity with which her soldiers spring to the flag was only surpassed by the constancy and courage of their adherence to it. The debt of gratitude to our soldiers can never be extinguished; but pecuniary obligations can be met and it is today a pleasing reflection that in all respects the cooperation of our town has been as scrupulously prompt as the demands of her soldiers have been just and modest. So that the town has not only loved and respected its soldiers but has been loved and respected by them.
Fifty-three of the soldiers of our town lost their lives in the great work, and such lives, young, ardent, promising lives around which clustered fond hopes and tender aspirations. Today in sadness and yet in triumph we meet to consecrate to their memory this granite shaft and to consecrate our own lives to that loyalty and patriotism for which they lost theirs. Around this sacred memorial erected to commemorate the fallen, gather this day their surviving comrades in arms, their relatives and fellow citizens. The strife of business, the contentions of politics, the cry of party are hushed in this presence. Today we are American citizens standing upon the common ground of a common reverence for the memory of the soldiers of the Republic.
Upon this tablet of glory are chiseled the names of brave men of all parties who fell side by side, in the same just cause, fighting a common enemy. Many of them were too young to have narrowed their patriotism by their party alliances, and some could not have been so allied because sons and residents of the county of Stanstead, whose people, be it greatly remembered, in our four years of grief and trial never forgot their New England kinship, but generously sympathized in our struggle, and today share with us our joy and our bereavement.

The Civil War Monument as it looked on February 23, 2008. To the left of the photo is the World War I monument that was placed at the site during the summer of 2006.

The monument we this day consecrate is a monument of Liberty erected to the memory of men who performed their honorable share of the work of removing the only element of despotism from our glorious constitution.
It is a monument of Union; it is a monument of reverence; it is a monument of love.
As you stand before this sacred memorial, you and your children, and your children's children, it will need no new inscription to express its meaning. The pale spectral lips of the departed speak from it. That government, say they, which our ancestors founded, and we preserved, it is yours to transmit."
When Salem incorporated into Derby in 1880 the names of the soldiers who enlisted from Salem were added to the monument, their names emblazoned on three bronze plagues. The monument was rededicated in July 1917. For some reason unknown to me the name of my great great grandfather, Sullivan Church, who enlisted out of Salem, and who had died many years before this rededication, was not included on the list of names on the bronze plagues.
Several years ago Brian Smith, who is now the chairman of Derby's select board, began stumping for improvements to the park. In more recent years his voice was joined by the voice of Dennis Beauchesne of Derby. A Vietnam veteran, Beauchesne has worked tirelessly during the last couple years to recognize this community's veterans, veterans of all wars. In 2006 he successfully convinced the Derby Selectmen to relocate the World War 1 monument that had stood in plain sight, but in relative obscurity, in front of North Country Union Junior High. In a grand military procession, which was lead by Beauchesne, the WW I monument was trucked up Main Street and in a military ceremony placed on the same plot of land with the Civil War monument.
Beauchesne and other members of the Veteran's Memorial Park Fund are now working to obtain and erect more moments to other major wars in the park including: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are planning to design the park in such a way as not to distract from the majestic nature of the park and its largest moment - the monument to the Civil War. A circular pathway is proposed to link the existing WWI monument with new monuments around the central Civil War monument. The state has already granted a curb cut on the crest of Route 5 for access to a new parking lot that is part of the plan.
In addition to placing new monuments at the site, plans are to remove some of the old stumps and damaged maple trees which encircle the park.
However, before the work at the park is completed the committee needs to raise about $75,000. So far several thousand dollars have been raised without a major fundraising drive to yet began. The town is also seeking grants for the project. Hopes are that work on the park can begin in the spring.
I encourage people to make donations to this worthy cause. Let these monuments forever serve as a reminder to the men and women of Derby for the sacrifices that they made for the Town of Derby and to our nation.
Make out checks to the "Town of Derby Monument Fund", and send them to Dennis Beauchesne, P.O. Box 112 Derby, Vt. 05829. Anyone with questions or suggestions about the design can call Beauchesne at 802-766-2847.